"Put this away. We'll all be working beside His Highness from now on. This isn't the first time you've encountered something like this, so please don't implicate me. If you need anything, go to the door and tell Xiao Dezi that he's my apprentice. He's in charge of you guys. You can wander around during the day, but try to stay in your room at night."
Xiao Xia Zi pointed at his apprentice and said that after this guy became the chief eunuch of the Eastern Palace, everyone around him followed his lead. It can be said that when one person succeeds, everyone around him will benefit. As for the fun stuff that Zhang Jiuli brought out, Xiao Xia Zi didn't even look at it.
The reason why we arranged a room for you is because His Highness treats you well. If you gave us gifts casually in private, you would really let us all down. What does our His Highness hate the most?
Zhang Jiuli pretended to be embarrassed. When he was in Sichuan and Nanzhao before, he knew that people around Li Xiang did not accept gifts. However, after arriving in Chang'an City, he felt that the people who followed Li Xiang might be different, so he took it out to test it. Unexpectedly, Li Xiang was very strict in managing his family. No one dared to touch it, whether at home or in the army.
In fact, this is a habit. If everyone around you extends their hand, it would be a bit unreasonable for you not to extend your hand. But if no one around you extends their hand, then if you take the initiative to ask others for money, it is estimated that others will not give it to you. What Li Xiang has done over the years is to make this a habit, so that these people will remember in their minds that gift-giving must be stopped.
Just as the imperial court was actively preparing, Li Xiang also began training the Right Guard Army in the military camp south of Chang'an City.
Of course, this is the court's statement. If we follow Li Xiang's statement, this is the rapid reaction force stationed in Chang'an City. All the people are equipped with three horses. In addition to requiring combat skills, these people must also be able to travel at night.
Li Xiang knew the power of the rapid reaction force. As long as there was such a force, other armies could carry out large-scale layoffs. After all, they were not needed in normal times, and there was no need to gather a large number of labor forces in the army. According to Li Xiang's plan, the entire Tang Empire only needed 250,000 people.
When Li Xiang proposed this, Li Shimin was also shocked. You know, in this era, the number of people is the most important thing, and population is also one of the important indicators of a country's comprehensive national strength. If the army in the Tang Dynasty is reduced to 250,000, Li Shimin would probably not be able to sleep.
From the time Li Shimin started his army until now, he never dared to imagine that there were only 250,000 troops in the whole country. If that were the case, at least 6 million strings of cash could be saved every year. Although this money was very tempting, Li Shimin would never agree to it if it caused a national security crisis.
But Li Shimin was a money-grubber, and there were so many things he could do with money, so he planned to let Li Xiang try it out first.
The Right Guard Army was given to Li Xiang for testing. This army received training in Chang'an City and was then ordered to be stationed in the eastern capital Luoyang. At that time, Li Shimin would withdraw all the troops from the eastern capital Luoyang. Originally, there were about 35,000 troops around the eastern capital Luoyang. According to Li Xiang's request, this time it would depend on the 5,000-strong Right Guard Army to maintain public security in Luoyang.
If Li Xiang's plan was feasible, then Li Shimin would reduce the current Tang army to 300,000, and then withdraw 350,000 people at once.
Of course, Li Shimin had not yet announced it, mainly because the difficulties encountered in doing so were too great, and many people in the country would also oppose it. You withdrew 350,000 people at once, and these were not just ordinary soldiers, but also many generals in the team. Without so many troops, do you still need so many generals?
Therefore, at this stage, Li Xiang is just asked to make some preparations. As for how it will be implemented in the future, it will take a very long process. However, judging from the fact that Li Shimin asked Li Xiang to start the experiment, the old guy is already tempted, but he just doesn't know what the prospects are.
Of course, what Li Xiang said was only within the territory of the Tang Dynasty. If it was in the newly occupied areas outside, Li Xiang would not dare to cut back on a large scale for the time being. If something happened, even if he had conquered those places, he would not be responsible for it.
There are now a large number of Tang Dynasty immigrants in these areas. The imperial court said very well at that time that it would ensure their safety and income. After two years of hard work, everyone's life has gradually returned to normal. If safety cannot be guaranteed at this time, then any immigration policy of the Tang Dynasty in the future will probably be ignored by the people.
What an imperial court fears most is lack of credibility. When an imperial court has no credibility, they are not far from destruction, so the first shot must be fired. At this moment, Li Xiang personally rode a war horse to the military camp south of Chang'an City.
"Long live Your Highness!"
Among the first batch of 5,000 people, 1,500 were veterans who came from the Xueyantuo battlefield in the north. The other 3,500 were recruited from around Chang'an City. After two months of training, these people were like little tigers.
Li Xiang listened to the powerful voice, but there was still no satisfaction on his face. It is useless to just look at this. You must meet the standards in other aspects.
"We can begin now."
Li Xiang looked at Cheng Chuliang next to him. Cheng Chuliang is currently the commander of this army, and Cheng Chuliang has told Li Xiang several times that their army can withstand any form of assessment.
Li Xiang's first test was naturally a physical test. Everyone had to carry a load for five kilometers. Although cavalrymen always rode on war horses, if your physical strength was not up to par, you would not be qualified to join the Youwuwei Army.
When Cheng Chuliang gave the order, all the soldiers dismounted from their horses in unison from the right side, tied up their horses as quickly as possible, and then carried the things on the horses' backs on their own backs. They formed teams of thirty-five people and began to set off one after another.
Running from the south of the city to a certain place in the west of the city was exactly five kilometers. Li Xiang looked at the sun. In this era, people used this to tell the time. When these people arrived, those who did not meet the requirements would be directly pulled out...
